Higher Doses of Antidepressants Linked to Suicidal Behavior in Young Patients

A new study based on suicide risk by drug dosage, involving 162,000 patients aged 10 to 64, finds that younger patients starting off with a higher-than-recommended dose of antidepressants have an elevated risk of suicidal behavior

New research on suicide risk by drug dosage has found that doctors should avoid prescribing high quantities of antidepressants to young adults. Younger patients starting off with a higher-than-recommended dose elevated their risk of self-harm compared with those who started at lower doses, according to a study from the JAMA Internal Medicine based on 162,000 patients ages 10 to 64.

Nearly 18% of patients in the study started on doses higher than normal for drugs including Celexa, Zoloft and Prozac. Researchers checked patients’ medical records to see how many had deliberately self-harmed within a year of starting their medications.

Patients younger than 24 taking higher doses harmed themselves more than twice as frequently as those taking lower amounts — 32 incidents of self-harm per 1,000 young patients on high doses, compared with only 15 incidents within the same number on the recommended dose.

“If I were a parent, I definitely wouldn’t want my child to start on a higher dose of these drugs,” study author Dr. Matthew Miller, associate director of Harvard School of Public Health’s Injury Control Research Center in Boston, told WebMD.

U.K. Teacher Stabbed to Death by Teen Student in Front of Class

Darren Staples—ReutersA photograph of teacher Anne Maguire, third from left, sits on floral tributes outside Corpus Christi Catholic College after she was fatally stabbed in Leeds, northern England, on April 28, 2014

Shocked schoolchildren in the U.K. witnessed a classmate stabbing their 61-year-old Spanish teacher to death. The boy has been taken into custody, and police have launched a murder investigation

A 15-year-old boy was detained by school staff and later arrested on Monday after a teacher was fatally stabbed in northern England.

Anne Maguire, 61, died after she was taken to the hospital.

“The incident itself was over very quickly, and no other pupils or staff were threatened or injured. However, this has clearly been a very traumatic situation for those involved,” chief superintendent Paul Money of West Yorkshire Police said in a statement.

Witnesses told the BBC that some children fled the scene at Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds, running and screaming after the attack.

A murder inquiry has now been launched. “Specialist detectives who are highly experienced in treating child witnesses sensitively are being used to interview them,” said Money.

Katie Gallagher, 15, told media that she was in a nearby room when Maguire, a Spanish teacher, was hurt.

“I heard her scream. I was in a meeting at the time but I heard it,” Gallagher said, according to the London EveningStandard.